33 Chapter 33: Commoner and Commander

Leon doesn't immediately go to Olivia. That would give off the wrong impression and potentially scare her off.

He plans to spend some time, 3 weeks at least, watching her from afar to see how she adapts to her new environment; to get a proper feel for her as a person before acting. He makes a simple plan to keep the girl under near-constant surveillance using his underlings– so he gets a thorough understanding of what she's like as a person.

When he brings this up to Hustler One, it is immediately shot down.

//"Leon, please do not stalk the girl."//

"I'm not stalking her. This is an observation on a possible high-value recruitment target."

//"You are having at least one of your followers tailing her from a distance and reporting whatever she does– that's stalking"//

"I don't want to hear that from a former shadow dictator that effectively ran a surveillance state deep underground with an army of mass-produced drones doing its bidding."

//"It takes one to know one, doesn't it? And you'd make your underlings concerned if you go through with this stalking plan, which would hurt your reputation So please stop."//

"I'm not stalking her, what the fuck?!"

With the A.I's critique, he scraps the plan and sets up a rotating 'guard' schedule between himself and 3 other underlings; ones he knows can entrust the duty of looking after the girl to with fitting impartiality. They get mischievous looks that he immediately catches on, and has to clarify that no he doesn't fancy the girl; he just wants them to keep an eye on her.

"So nobody else can sink their claws in her first, right?"

"Harold I will tie you down and wax your ass hair off, Saint help me."

His men laugh and poke fun at him, but nonetheless comply with his directions. He pretends not to hear their backtalk when he walks away, allowing them to gossip as they wished; knowing they'll come through with the fulfillment of his orders.

Not even two weeks pass before they come back to Leon looking alarmed and disgusted.

The commoner girl doesn't fare well at all, owing to the less than stellar reception by the resident noblewomen deciding to pick on her. They do it for various reasons; from feeling offended that they were being made to study with an 'inferior', to petty jealousy over her looks being better than theirs, to even wanting to see her driven out of the academy for her own good.

Whatever the reason or whomever the cause, the mistreatment is the same. It even gets to the point where the girls start to work together to make Olivia's time at school worse, belittling her in the hallways and disturbing her whenever she tries to do something that has nothing to do with any school related work. Even her attempts to study are met with harrassment and bullying, the kind that leaves the poor girl on the verge of tears more often than not.

When Leon's turn on surveillance (not stalking damn it!) duty comes, he sees for himself what Olivia goes through. Hears the vicious vitriol and terrible words spat at her from the callous lips of lesser women that make his own heart ache from sympathetic pain.

Then, a trio of such harpies corner her in the library whilst she's studying, and Leon decides enough is enough.

=X=X=X=X=X=

"Your kind have no right to walk these vaunted halls, commoner. You should be out in the fields harvesting our wheat or in your hovels making linen and wool, not dirty the priceless books and tomes here with your grubby hands." a girl with short brown hair says, arms crossed and nose raised. "Your presence here is an affront to the Kingdom of Holfort and everything it stands for. You are better off leaving this prestigious institution and going back to whatever rural village you were born in."

"How did you even pass the vetting process for new student enrollees? Your scholarship aside, the lack of any respectable background should have been indication enough to bar you from entry. Really, your sponsor is either a fool or you are skilled enough change his mind." another girl with bright pink hair and bucked teeth scoffs. "I doubt you can do the latter, though. Look at you, with that horrible face and plain hair color– no flare or style to speak of! Not even a Baron from the countryside would spare you more than a second glance!"

"She'd be lucky to even be looked at by a Baronetcy heir, let alone a Baron! Why would they even pay any attention at all to a malformed nobody like her?" a third girl with a round belly and equally round face laughs. "It's bad enough that there's so few worthwhile boys here to pursue– we have no need for a waste of space like you worsening our chances of getting with someone that can support us and make our futures comfortable. So do us all a favor, pack up your things, and leave!"

Olivia clutches her books as tightly as she can from her place on the floor surrounded by scattered paper, gaze averted from the three girls talking at her. She didn't dare stand up for herself, not when their Exclusive Servants loomed tall behind them with looks of stoic indifference.

The last time she tried, he books had been ripped out of her grasp and thrown into a fountain. It took her several hours and a steady application of a toned down fire spell to dry them all up, and she spent the rest of the night finishing her homework– forcing her to not sleep and go to classes tired.

So Olivia takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, hoping that they would grow bored and eventually walk away so she could get back to studying.

"P-Please…" she pleads, just wanting it to be over.

"Silence, commoner!" one of the girls demand, kicking at her. "The status gulf between us is like an ant speaking to goddesses! Know your place!"

"Such impudence needs to be chastised." another girl snorts, pig-like. "Hermann, rough her up."

One of the exclusive Servants stalks forward and Olivia scrabbles away. He reaches out to her, and the blonde closes her eyes to brace for the worst–

"Saint above, what are you lot doing causing so much of a ruckus?" a familiar voice speaks up, low and angry. "Did you not read the rules posted outside? This is the library, not a debate parlor."

Olivia gasps, turning to the speaker; the Raven himself. She glances at the three girls and finds them paling.

"L-Lord Bartford! W-We had no idea–!" the pinkette splutters.

"Quiet." he orders, and the girl shuts up. "Why is the scholarship student on the floor? What was your servant going to do to her?"

"H-He was just about to pull her u-up, is all!" the brunette claims. "Y-You know how c-commoners are like, Lord Bartford– u-uneducated and clumsy! S-She was just looking f-for something and tripped! W-We were just about help her up!"

"Y-Yes, Hermann is such a helpful servant i-isn't he?" the round girl laughs, nervous.

"And am I to believe your orders to have her roughed up was a slip of the tongue?" the Raven snorts. The three girls pale. "Thought so. Servant, step away from the girl."

"I do not follow your orders." the beastman Demi-Human puffs up his chest, back straightening to his full height. The Raven narrows his gaze and takes one step forward, making beastman flinch. "S-Sir."

"Do I have to repeat myself?" he asks, voice dark. "Step. Away."

Though shorter and younger, the presence from the boy is enough to make the Demi-Human stammer and backpedal behind the three girls– who shrink under the boy's gaze. He keeps his gaze on them for another 3 heartbeats before something in the air relaxes enough to let the girls exhale in relief.

"Get out of my sight before I make you." he orders. "And if I catch wind of this behavior again, I will bring this to the teachers."

The three bow and flee, shooting glares at Olivia as they run. The blonde just sighs, trying hard to hide her sniffles and discreetly wipe away her tears as she starts gathering her scattered notes. None of them are too damaged thankfully, so she wouldn't need to redo them; which means she could sleep a little better tonight.

Movement in the corner of her vision alerts her to the Raven kneeling down and helping her gather her notes.

"Y-You don't have to do that, L-Lord Bartford!" she panics. "L-Let me–"

"Leon." he replies. Olivia blinks. "My name's Leon. None of that Lord nonsense– it's too stuffy for my liking."

"...b-but–" Olivia stammers. "It– that's not how c-commoners are supposed to address nobles…"

"Well, that's how I want to be referred to." the Raven, Leon, huffs. "Besides, this is a school– the nobility are only 'noble' in name. Their 'power' and 'influence' only goes as far as that of their parents. Most of the threats they give is just hot air anyway."

"R-Really?" Olivia blinks, shocked. "T-That's so horrible of them!"

"If is, yes." Leon nods. "But it's not like they know any other way to act. Hence, why they were enrolled here– to learn other ways to act."

"Oh! I see!" Olivia beams. "You're so smart, Lo– ah, Leon!"

"You catch on quick. Usually I have to remind them once or twice." the boy smiles, and the blonde is struck by how… honest the expression is. "Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself. You already know my name, but I don't know yours, miss…?"

"O-Oliva! Olivia of Freycross, Leon." she smiles back. "It's nice to meet you, Leon."

"Same here." he helps her up and hands her what papers he's gathered. "What were you doing here before those cretins bothered you, Olivia?"

"I was trying to study– the Academy Library is one of the biggest repositories of knowledge in the Kingdom, so I thought about getting a headstart on the curriculum. That way, I can learn all there is to learn in here!" she beams. "There's just much information here that I just feel so excited! There's so much to discover and understand that I just…!"

"Hey, easy there." Leon chuckles. "You're gonna make me get all excited."

"O-Oh, sorry." Olivia giggles. "What were you doing here then, Leon?"

"Looking up history books to try and find one that's not historical fiction." Leon grumbles. "Every single book I've found focuses on some nonsensical love octagon or star-crossed lovers rubbish. It's not even decent romance either; just juvenile drivel penned by people who obviously have no idea who romance and love actually works."

"Wow, you sound like you know a lot about love, Leon." Olivia asks, hiding her disappointment. "H-Have you… I mean d-do you have a…?"

"A lover? Pssh, perish the thought." he laughs. "Nah, I've just spoken with a lot of husbands and fiancees and lovers while I fought in the wars. I've gotten an idea for how actual romance works, and it's nothing like what the books say. Though…" he smiles, and the blonde's heart skips a beat at how real it looks. "From what those people have said, the books aren't entirely wrong."

Hope and excitement blooms in Olivia's heart as she beams at Leon. The young man laughs and raises a hand to help calm her down.

"Alright, we've been standing around here for too long." he says. "Lets find a table so we can commiserate about our respective troubles."

"Mm!" Oliva nods, smiling. "Like friends!"

"Hah. Yeah, friends." Leon smiles back.

=X=X=X=X=X=

Leon and his men take a liking to Olivia also immediately, drawn in by her genuine kindness and the heart-warming innocence she radiates; like how the sun radiates warmth.

It doesn't take long for them to form a protection detail around the blonde, without Leon even suggesting the idea in the first place. All too soon, the bullying tapers down– none of the previously vindictive noble girls daring to cause a scene when Leon or any of his followers were present.

The root cause of the bullying is quickly identified; owing to Olivia's lack of proper background, she's unfamiliar with the various unwritten rules and noble etiquette that the Advanced Course students must follow. This gives the more vicious noble girls an excuse to go after her with seemingly no repercussions, as their actions are interpreted by the others as 'chastising' Olivia on her lack of knowledge. That those girls coincidentally leave out the reason why they bully Olivia, well…

"They're vicious little harpies. No other reason why." one of Leon's underlings shrugs. "They find a new 'toy' to mess with, you bet they'll try to keep it for as long as possible."

"T-That's so cruel…" Olivia mutters.

"All the more reason why we should take care of it now." Leon nods. "Harold, get me my sister; Jenna Fou Bartford. If there's anyone here that I know can help Olivia with her problem, it's her."

"You sure, sir? She's probably gonna extort you for something in return." one of his underlings say.

"As long as it's not too outrageous, then I can live with it." Leon grunts.

Jenna demands an Exclusive Servant for her 'services'. Leon agrees, however much he grumbles and mutters and curses under his breath as he pays for a glorified contracted manwhore for his sister.

"Okay. Well, to star things off, it's a rule for everyone in class to greet the highest ranking member of their year." Jenna starts. "It establishes the pecking order so to speak and shows that you defer to their better judgement; as is proper for a commoner. You're also expected to show to offer tribute– usually some kind of present. It has to match the person's tastes, so it has to be something expensive at least. Maybe snacks or tea leaves; something from the popular stores or what not."

"S-Something from a popular stores…?" Olivia pales. "B-But their wares are expensive!"

"Then just get my stupid brother to pay for it." Jenna shrugs. "If he's willing to go so far for you, surely he'd be willing to lend you some money, right?"

Leon hums, crossing his arms.

"...you know," he muses. "My boys and I have a dungeon diving session this weekend. And since Lady Redgrave's family is one of the traditionalists…"

"T-Traditionalists? You mean those that have adventurers as their ancestors?" Olivia gasps. "Wait! You don't mean–!"

"I do." Leon grins. "How about– instead of going with my sister's crummy advice," Jenna lets out a sound of protest that Leon skillfully ignores. "We go a little extra for Lady Redgrave and gift her a treasure from the dungeon?"

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